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New York Times Reporter Leaks Maureen Dowd Column to CIA

Mark Mazzetti, a reporter with The New York Times, must need to brush up on journalism ethics. That’s the only reason we can come up with to explain why he leaked a Maureen Dowd column to the CIA.

According to Politico, Mazzetti’s communication with Marie Harf, a CIA spokesperson, was regarding Dowd’s op-ed that criticized the White House for not making a bigger deal out of President Barack Obama’s handling of the mission that eventually led to Osama bin Laden being killed. Dowd’s piece was set to run after a movie about the mission — Zero Dark Thirty — hit theaters. In an email, Mazzetti writes, “This didn’t come from me… and please delete after you read. See, nothing to worry about.”

One would think Mazzetti has plenty to worry about now, but nope. Dean Baquet, the managing editor of the Times, thinks all is well. “I know the circumstances, and if you knew everything that’s going on, you’d know it’s much ado about nothing,” Baquet told Politico. “I can’t go into in detail. But I’m confident after talking to Mark that it’s much ado about nothing.” Hmmm… Maybe it’s us who need to brush up on ethics?